For the first time since it was founded, Wendy's has dethroned Burger King as the country's second biggest hamburger chain. Wendy's U.S. sales volume hit $8.5 billion in 2011, compared with $8.4 billion for Burger King. McDonald's remained far larger than both with $34.2 billion in sales.

These should be exciting times for Wendy's: It has revamped its burgers, spun off Arby's, expanded back into Japan, and is going to take another crack at the breakfast game. But despite all that, its share price is around the cost of its value meals, and that's unlikely to change.

Allied Irish Banks (AIB) announced a steep increase in first half losses on provisions for past-due property loans.
The net loss in the first half of the year was 1.73 billion euros, compared with a loss of 786 million euros in the first half of 2009, The Wall Street Journal said. Operating income fell 24% to 2 billion euros, excluding 963 million euros in losses related to the National Asset Management Agency.